Summoning Charm

"And then he heard it, speeding through the air behind him; he turned and saw his Firebolt hurtling towards him around the edge of the woods, soaring into the enclosure, and stopping dead in mid-air beside him, waiting for him to mount."

The Summoning Charm (Accio) was a charm that caused an object at a distance from the caster to fly into their arms. This spell needs thought behind it, the object must be clear in the casters mind, before trying to summon.

Casting and effects

The Summoning Charm could not be used on buildings.[3] In addition, it did not work on most living things, and those few on which it did were generally not considered worth Summoning, such as flobberworms.[3]

The farther the desired object was from the caster, the harder it was to Summon. However, there was apparently some controversy over this claim, as Hermione Granger stated that it did not matter how far away the object was — so long as the caster had it clearly in mind, they should be able to Summon it with ease.[4]

There were counterspells that could be placed on objects to keep them from being Summoned.[5][6] Most wizarding goods sold as of the 20th century and early 21st century came pre-enchanted with anti-theft spells to keep them from being Summoned by anyone but their rightful owners.[3]

Media

Etymology

The Latin word accio can mean "I call", "I summon", or "action". In the Hungarian translation, the spell is called "Invito", possibly from the word "to invite".

Pronunciation

Many various suggestions have been made on the pronunciation of this spell. Some include: (AK-ee-oh) or (AK-see-oh)- from the film, (AK-see-oh)- from the UK audio book and video game, (AS-see-oh)- from the US audio book, and (AT-chee-oh)- the Anglo-Catholic pronunciation. The original Latin translation sounds like (AK-soh).

Behind the scenes

In the 2006 short film The Queen's Handbag, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley both use the charm in an attempt to retrieve Queen Elizabeth II's handbag, which has been lost. They are unsuccessful and Hermione suggests they're too far away from it, suggesting the charm may have a maximum range. However, in Goblet of Fire, Hermione stated that distance didn't matter, as long as the caster was concentrating hard enough. Also, the short film's canonicity is uncertain, so it is unlikely this applies to mainstream continuity.

In the handheld versions of LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Accio can move an object in any direction, not just towards the caster. In some cases, it moves an object directly away from the caster, working more like its opposite.

When Hermione Summoned Secrets of the Darkest Art from Dumbledore's office, she simply said "Accio Horcrux books", instead of the specific book name, meaning that this spell can function even when the item's description is not detailed.

According to Wonderbook, the hand motion is thus:

Given that the Summoning Charm will not work on most living objects, the Summoning of the donkey in "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot" may have been one of the uses of poetic licence on the part of Beedle the Bard.

Despite not being able to summon most living objects, Gideon Flatworthy managed to summon livestock along with a farm and well-stocked larder, all of which crushed him to death.